Week 2 in Perpignan

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So another week has flown by under gorgeous blue skies - I still can't believe how hot and sunny it is, and nearly into October. I still carry an umbrella everywhere, even though it hardly ever rains - I guess it's a British thing!

It was my first week of lectures, and after the headache of trying to put together a timetable out of modules offered by several different departments, we set off, not sure what to expect. Some of them were really good, especially medieval literature with an amazing lecturer, who is so enthusiastic about it, and was really welcoming to us erasmus students, where other lecturers seemed to see us as a bit of a nuisance. However some classes we actually had to escape from, such as a spanish grammar class where we were being taught how to pronounce 'casa' (we politely excused ourselves after half an hour) and another, entitled 'psychology and education', which I thought would be interesting, was the most boring lecture I have ever been to! Rosy and I felt like naughty schoolgirls, swapping notes and giggling at the back as the lecturer droned on about educational changes from the middle ages to the present day via every century in-between.

One criticism we agreed on about the university is how it feels far more like a secondary school. The buildings are just like at school, only bigger, and some lecturers, especially in seminars, have a way of making you feel about 14 again. The French students put up their hands to answer questions, and you don't really have discussions, it's mostly dictation which can be quite hard to follow. One boy turned up five minutes late to a translation class, and the teacher turned him away!

But I do enjoy most of the classes I've signed up for so I think it should be good, once I learn to accept that the teaching methods are very different here. Although integrating with the French students hasn't really happened yet, I've really bonded with some of the erasmus students. There's an erasmus night at a bar called Tio Pepe's every Wednesday and there's a really good mix of languages and cultures, with French as the common language.

After a whirlwind week, and some complaining about the classes, we realised how good life was when we spent Saturday afternoon at a pavement cafe in the old town sipping coffees and watching the world go by. Two weeks gone already - time is going to fly here!

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